Sotnikova- biggest threat to Kim's dream of 2nd olympic Gold

Yu Na Kim's dream of a 2nd straight Olympic Gold might well happen but if anyone is going to foil it I believe it would be Adelina Sotnikova. Sotnikova has many factors going for her that make her a very dangerous threat to Kim, and I believe her biggest threat:

-Olympics on home ice.
-9th at pre Olympic Worlds, same as Shizuka at the pre Turin Olympic Worlds.
-Very powerful jumps with great technique and triple-triple combinations. Does all types of triples unlike Kim.
-Very strong spins.
-Tremendous presentation.
-Great basic skating skills and speed and power.

Most importantly she seems to be gaining the consistency to become the Champion people have long predicted her to become. Her performances at WTT, especialy her SP, showed she is in the right direction in that regard and will probably continue to do so. I am not outright predicdting she will beat Kim for the Olympic Gold, but I think she is her biggest, and possibly only threat. Kostner is too inconsistent, even though she has greatly improved her consistency it is still not enough to do clean competitions which she needs for any chance vs Kim. Mao just has too much question marks when she attempts a very hard jump layout, but she has no chance vs Kim without one.

I like Adelina much more than Liza, I enjoyed her LP at Worlds just behind Yuna's and Mao's, and agree with you she has very good presentation, but I truly don't know how can you put her too high like this? Let alone Yuna, but I bet two Mao & Caro will must have a HUGE BOMB to let Adelina above them

Very powerful jumps with great technique and triple-triple combinations. Does all types of triples unlike Kim.
I don't agree with this! I watched her this year programs many times, I liked almost all but her jumps they were just so so especially a landing, absolutely not clean, very shaky. Jumps are the only thing I like Liza's more than hers

The 'great technique' on jumps is what I don't think she has. Her lutz and flip are rather scary to me, she URs, and for me those are some of the hardest things to fix. So, no she's not the biggest threat to Kim, that would still be Kostner, followed Asada. I don't think her presentation is that great, rather it can be very good , but for the most part it's uneven (parts of a program skated well, others, not so much). I'd put Gold (better jumps, skates 'big', improving presentation) and Li (complete package, albeit a small one) ahead of Adelina.

I do think there will be a PCS bump skating for the host country. I'm just not so sure either Adelina or Liza (better jumps but slow, small skating) will be able to capitalize on it to the point of medaling.

I dont like Sotnikova's skating. Her programs are often awful and artisticaly blah, and her jumps are fugly and not that strong. Even if she skated clean she wouldnt impress me nearly as much as Osmond or others on a good day.

All these J-bots and fake K-bots are on a rampage. I&#8217;ve never seen a long-time Yu-Na fans in this forum beginning a poll &#8220;who&#8217;s the best,&#8221; &#8220;who&#8217;s better,&#8221; or &#8220;what could&#8217;ve been.&#8221; I can&#8217;t recall even one long-time Yu-Na fan in this forum vehemently saying that Kim is better than anyone else regardless of one&#8217;s times.

Their propagation this time around: creating controversies among the fans of the greats: be it Kwan vs Kim, Witt vs Kim, or even, Coolege or Henie vs Kim!

This forum is a mess and missing good mediation from the admins when it comes to controlling those pesky posters with multi-ids and a single purpose.

They don't have respect for their own favorite or how she/they would feel about her/their fans going on with these bashing against the winner of them all. How egotistical and non-caring, short of proud, patient, and supporting fans. Poor Asada.

The fact that she was 9th at this year's worlds has no significance. Just because Arakawa was 9th and then got gold at the Olympics doesn't mean that also will apply to Sotnikova, where is the logic in that? Did the 9th place lady at the 2009 Worlds win a medal at the 2010 Olympics? I don't think so.. pretty sure that wasn't Kim, Asada or Rochette!

Between the younger girls getting a late start before the Sochi Olympics and the fact that most of the top skaters from the 2010 Olympics will be back i don't see anyone but a veteran being on the podium. Let's face it when is the last time the Gold and Silver medalist from the previous Olympics come back to compete in the next one?

Between the younger girls getting a late start before the Sochi Olympics and the fact that most of the top skaters from the 2010 Olympics will be back i don't see anyone but a veteran being on the podium. Let's face it when is the last time the Gold and Silver medalist from the previous Olympics come back to compete in the next one?

The fact that she was 9th at this year's worlds has no significance. Just because Arakawa was 9th and then got gold at the Olympics doesn't mean that also will apply to Sotnikova, where is the logic in that? Did the 9th place lady at the 2009 Worlds win a medal at the 2010 Olympics? I don't think so.. pretty sure that wasn't Kim, Asada or Rochette!

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Sarah Meier was 9th at 2009 Worlds, 15th in Vancouver and didn't qualify for the FS at 2010 Worlds. Her best Olympic finish was 8th in 2006, and her best World finish was 6th in 2006 and 2008. However, she won Euros in 2011 and Euro silver in 2007 and 2008.

Yu Na Kim's dream of a 2nd straight Olympic Gold might well happen but if anyone is going to foil it I believe it would be Adelina Sotnikova. Sotnikova has many factors going for her that make her a very dangerous threat to Kim, and I believe her biggest threat:

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Haha.... This seems you underestimate Carolina or Mao or even Wagner and Suzuki. They have more potential to win Kim YuNa than her.

And I think Tukt has the most potential among Russian girls. She has textbook jumps, and great 3-3.
I saw an one Russian article a few months ago. her coach said that She was came to WC with a purpose to win Kim Yuna.

All of them will only have one Worlds appearance under their belt before the Olympics unlike Yuna and Mao who had been to Worlds 3 times and been on the Senior GP circuit for 5 seasons before the Vancouver Olympics. So they had more experience by far then someone like Gold or Osmond who only went senior this season a year before the Olympics.

I think no one should take this thread serious, since it rather looks like it was meant to be some kind of joke. But at least it already got some bot-comments up, yatta

Anyway, I love Adelina, but I doubt she'll be a threat to Yuna next season. Maybe, if she gets some of her faults out over the summer and somehow gets more consistent with her skating, she might be a medal contender - since Mao and Caro aren't exactly clean most of the time. But even that is a maybe.

That said, I really wished people would stop hyping the young girls up so much, or better to say having such high expactations. Adelina, Liza, Gracie, Kaetlyn & everyone else are still young and didn't get a lot of experience by now. All of them can become great champions, but probably not by 2014. And that's fine.

And I think Tukt has the most potential among Russian girls. She has textbook jumps, and great 3-3.
I saw an one Russian article a few months ago. her coach said that She was came to WC with a purpose to win Kim Yuna.

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All coaches give the Rah-Rah pitch for their skaters. Tuktamysheva may have correct jumps, but her speed, stroking and ice coverage are way below what they should be, and her presentation isn't exactly sparkling. She gets consistently lower PCS scores than Sotnikova and Leonova, let alone Kim's.

Personally, I agree with Jammers. All of these newbies are still that: newbies. This was Adelina's first appearance at worlds and only her 2nd season as a senior. None of these girls (Adelina, Liza T, Gracie, Kaetlyn, Zijun, Julia, etc.) have the experience or reputation necessary to compete with the top names and that's not their fault. Even if by chance Adelina goes out and nails all of her jumps she still wouldn't beat Yu-Na b/c Adelina doesn't command the type of PCS that Yu-Na does (or Carolina or Mao).

The best any of these girls can do is to skate their best in Sochi without any kind of thought of getting a medal. That will set them up heading into worlds that year and give them the boost they need heading into the 2014-2015 season which will be critical b/c there will be a massive change in the landscape following the Sochi games. Nearly all of the top names/holdovers will be gone and the top spots will be up for grabs.

Personally I'm getting tired of the Yu-Na/Carolina/Mao triumvirate. I'm ready for some new stars to take center stage and start a some new rivalries.

Personally, I agree with Jammers. All of these newbies are still that: newbies. This was Adelina's first appearance at worlds and only her 2nd season as a senior. None of these girls (Adelina, Liza T, Gracie, Kaetlyn, Zijun, Julia, etc.) have the experience or reputation necessary to compete with the top names and that's not their fault. Even if by chance Adelina goes out and nails all of her jumps she still wouldn't beat Yu-Na b/c Adelina doesn't command the type of PCS that Yu-Na does (or Carolina or Mao).

The best any of these girls can do is to skate their best in Sochi without any kind of thought of getting a medal. That will set them up heading into worlds that year and give them the boost they need heading into the 2014-2015 season which will be critical b/c there will be a massive change in the landscape following the Sochi games. Nearly all of the top names/holdovers will be gone and the top spots will be up for grabs.

Personally I'm getting tired of the Yu-Na/Carolina/Mao triumvirate. I'm ready for some new stars to take center stage and start a some new rivalries.

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Obviously ZIjun Li got 4th in the free skate and so could any of the first timers. It just so happened to be ZIjun Li and shows that there is no reason to say there time is not now. If she hadn't have done poorly in the SP then she could have done even better. Any of them could be right in there for a medal and do well and be better than 4th and reach the caliber of skate that ZIjun Li had.

All of them will only have one Worlds appearance under their belt before the Olympics unlike Yuna and Mao who had been to Worlds 3 times and been on the Senior GP circuit for 5 seasons before the Vancouver Olympics. So they had more experience by far then someone like Gold or Osmond who only went senior this season a year before the Olympics.

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Whose fault is that?!
How old were Yuna and Mao at their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Worlds?
What level were Gold and Osmond at 2, 3, years ago?

Really? Not Mao or Carolina? Even Gracie and Zijun are looking stronger than Sotnikova these days, and Osmond on a good day can beat her too. Sotnikova has tremendous POTENTIAL but she's not there yet. 3-3s are not consistent or consistently rotated, she still flutzes, 3f is unstable, and her spin positions are very difficult but sometimes she struggles to control them as well. I see her as a skater who is likely to reach her peak later in life like Irina.